Motorcycle racing
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Two motorcycles racing at Lydden |
Motorcycle
racing (also called moto
racing and bike racing) is a motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major genres
include road racing and off road racing, both either on circuits or open courses,
and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land
speed record trials.
Categories
The
FIM classifies motorcycle racing in the
following four main categories. Each category has
several sub categories.
Road
racing
Road racing
is the racing of motorcycles on tarmac. Races can take place either on
purpose-built racing
circuits or on closed public roads.
Motorcycle Grand Prix
Grand Prix motorcycle racing refers
to the premier category of motorcycle road racing. It is divided into three
distinct classes:
- 125 cc — Engines in this class are two-stroke.
This class is also restricted by rider age, with an upper limit of 25 for
newly signed riders and wild card entries and an absolute upper limit of
28 for all riders.
- Moto2 — Introduced by Dorna
Sports, the commercial rights holder of the competition,
in 2010 as a 600 cc four-stroke class. Prior to that season, the
intermediate class was 250 cc with two-stroke engines. Moto2 races in
the 2010 season will allow both engine types; from 2011 on, only the
four-stroke Moto2 machines will be allowed in this class.
- MotoGP — 800 cc four-stroke.
Grand prix motorcycles are prototype
machines not based on any production motorcycle.
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MotoGP racing |
Superbike
racing
Superbike
racing is a category of motorcycle road racing that employs modified production
motorcycles. Superbike racing motorcycles must have four stroke engines of
between 800 cc and 1200 cc for twins, and between 750 cc and
1000 cc for four
cylinder machines. The motorcycles must maintain the same profile as
their roadgoing counterparts. The overall appearance, seen from the front, rear
and sides, must correspond to that of the bike homologated for use on
public roads.
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Super bike racing |
Supersport
racing
Supersport
racing is another category of motorcycle road racing that employs modified
production motorcycles. To be eligible for Supersport racing, a motorcycle must
have a four-stroke engine of
between 400 and 600 cc for four-cylinder machines, and
between 600 and 750 cc for twins,
and must satisfy the FIM homologation
requirements. Supersport regulations are much tighter than Superbikes.
Supersport machines must remain largely as standard, while engine tuning is
possible but tightly regulated.
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Super sport racing |
Endurance racing
Endurance racing is a category of motorcycle road racing which is meant to
test the durability of equipment and endurance of the riders. Teams of multiple
riders attempt to cover a large distance in a single event. Riders are given
the ability to change during the race. Endurance races can be run either to
cover a set distance in laps as quickly as possible, or to cover as much
distance as possible over a preset amount of time.
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Endurance racing |
True road racin
True road
racing is run on tracks built from closed public and/or park roads and
sometimes extra pieces of purpose built track. In the past true road racing was
very commonplace but today few races have survived and even fewer have been
added. Only one truly international championship exists at present by the name
of "International Road Racing Championship" (IRRC). Most races are
held within Europe. Ireland
is probably the country with the most true road racing circuits still in use.
The Isle of Man probably has
the most tracks per inhabitant or surface area. Other countries where true road
races are held are the
Netherlands, Belgium,
Germany, Great Britain (though due
to law only outside England or in parks), the Czech Republic, New Zealand and Macau
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Road racing on temporiary |
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Motocross
Motocross (or MX) is the
direct equivalent of road racing, but off road, a number of bikes racing on a
closed circuit. Motocross circuits are constructed on a variety of non-tarmac
surfaces such as dirt, sand, mud, grass, etc., and tend to incorporate
elevation changes either natural or artificial. Advances in motorcycle
technology, especially suspension, have led to the predominance of circuits
with added "jumps" on which bikes can get airborne. Motocross has
another noticeable difference from road racing, in that starts are done en
masse, with the riders alongside each other. Up to 40 riders race into the
first corner, and sometimes there is a separate award for the first rider
through (see
holeshot). The winner is
the first rider across the finish line, generally after a given amount of time
or laps or a combination.
Motocross has a plethora of
classes based upon machine displacement (ranging from 50cc 2-stroke youth
machines up to 250cc 2-stroke and 450cc 4-stroke), age of competitor, ability
of competitor, sidecars, quads/ATVs, and machine age (classic for pre 1965/67, Twinshock for bikes with
two shock absorbers, etc).
Supermoto
Supermoto is a racing
category that is a crossover between road-racing and motocross. The motorcycles
are mainly motocross types with road-racing tyres. The racetrack is a mixture
of road and dirt courses (in different proportions) and can take place either
on closed circuits or in temporary venues (such as urban locations).
The riding style on the
tarmac section is noticeably different from other forms of tarmac-based racing,
with a different line in corners, sliding of the back wheel around the corner,
and using the leg straight out to corner (as opposed to the noticeable touching
of the bent knee to the tarmac of road racers).
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Super motor rider |
Drag Racing / Sprints
Drag racing
and/or sprints is a racing venue where two participants line up at a dragstrip with a signaled
starting line. Upon the starting signal, the riders accelerate down a straight,
quarter-mile long paved track where their elapsed time and terminal speed are
recorded. The rider to reach the finish line first is the winner. This can
occur upon purpose built venues (e.g., Santa Pod), temporary venues (e.g.,
runways or drives of country houses). In addition to "regular"
motorcycles, top fuel motorcycles also
compete in this category.
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Drag racing |
Hill
Climb
In hill climbing, a single
rider climbs or tries to climb a road going up a hill in the fastest time
and/or the furthest up the hill before ceasing forward motion. Tarmac events
are typically on closed public roads and private roads. The same concept is
also used off-tarmac, usually on steeper hills.
Landspeed
Racing
In Landspeed motorcycle
racing, the racer is trying to beat the fastest speed ever achieved by that
style of motorcycle and type of engine for a timed mile. The pre-eminent event
for motorcycle LSR is the International Motorcycle Speed Trials by BUB, held on
the Bonneville Salt Flats annually (near Labor Day.) Motorcycles are classified
based on body style, i.e. how much streamlining is incorporated. They are
further classified based on engine size in cubic centimeters (cc's) and based
on fuel type (gasoline versus any modified fuel.)
Vintage
Motorcycle Racing
In vintage racing riders race
classic motorcycles that are no longer competitive with the latest production
motorcycles. Classes are organized by production period and engine
displacement. There are vintage events for almost every type of racing listed
above, vintage motocross and road racing are especially popular. Equipment is
limited to that available for the production period, although modern safety
equipment and tires are permitted. Most vintage production periods are from the
1970s and before, but now 1980s motorcycles are being allowed into some events[citation
needed]. Generally a motorcycle must be at least 25
years old to be considered vintage.
The sanctioning body for most
US vintage racing is the American Motorcyclist Association. The main organizations
that sponsor vintage racing are the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association
(AHRMA), and WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, which has several vintage classes
along with modern racers. Of historical importance is the United States Classic Racing Association
(USCRA) one of the oldest vintage racing clubs in the US.
Theams of Motor bikes
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You knaow that the motobike is the one thing that all the young guys like it to drive.
motor bike is now used as the riding vehichal